Mahabharata

The poem of humanity, the Mahabharata, is the great epic story of whom were considered to be the Indian ancestors: the Bharata. Written between the IV century B.C. and the IV A.D., and considered one of the most sacred books in the world, this poem is still sung, danced, enacted, read, drawn and depicted by means of all kinds of art forms in India and abroad.

Western theatre artists have always been fascinated by Eastern performing art forms, as for example Brecht with Mei Lanfang from Chinese theatre, or the work of Artaud with respect to Balinese dance; but during the twentieth century in Europe we witnessed one of the most relevant events of the century. In 1985, director Peter Brook presented “Le Mahabharata”, a nine-hour performance with an international cast that in a few years became a wonderful movie (reduced to just six hours!) Being a drama artist, classical Indian dancer and researcher, I think it’s the right time to take up the challenge of working on this monumental poem, especially because during my study of it, I found great similarities with Shakespeare’s work: themes, characters, philosophy, relationships… So the challenge is to work on some of the scenes from the Mahabharata, using it as a pretext to find a new way to portray the universal and powerful messages included in it. In my opinion, this message can be summarized as: think, try to understand yourself and the world, and mostly act, be, or better “To be”.

Sagome Teatro has organized a workshop starting on 20 March 2011, during which we will work on the play, and we will produce a performance in July at the PIM OFF theatre, in Milan, after three intensive days of residence at the theatre itself. We will work in English because we think it’s the best language for the poem, sharp and epic.

On  23 February 2011, Sagome Teatro will present the workshop at the SIRIN association, via Vela 15, Milan, at 9.00 pm. During this evening, excerpts from various plays will be projected, and three actors will read some scenes from Mahabharata. All are welcome!

Lucrezia Maniscotti